AND002 – limited vinyl on A&R Edits
Released: Monday 27th May, 2013
Side AA: Music Up (Reworked by Derek Kaye)
Selected by GW
Derek Kaye married his schoolboy passions of music and electronics in 1973 when he constructed his first disco sound system, aged just 13. Prior to this, with DJ equipment something of a rarity in those days, he created a custom setup that bypassed the need for a mixer by rewiring his turntables in such a way that he could flip the sound from one deck to another, and installed a switch that would dip the music so a microphone from a portable cassette player could be used to announce the song on rotation. His work soon grew in sophistication and a new console was built, with his schoolmate, Greg Wilson, buying Derek’s old rig, thus beginning his own well-documented DJ career.
Over the past 40 years, Derek has continued to DJ in and around the North West, both in residencies and guest spots, and his passion for music and electronics are still just as strong. His enviable studio has gone through the transitions of working with notator (the forerunner to logic) on the studio essential Atari 1040 ste with a collection of keyboards and Akai samplers, to just about “working out of the box” as is the case with a lot of studios now.
Today, a lifetime of experience is being teased out of the connoisseur by lifelong friend and A&R curator Greg Wilson, beginning with the double header of 'Nobody' and 'Music Up': both reworks have caused dance floor rapture for Greg over recent months and, as festival season fast approaches, they are now being shared amongst the wider DJ community for the very first time (Derek and Greg have also recently joined forces to remix Bryan Ferry’s ‘Don’t Stop The Dance’).
'Music Up' is an overhaul of the 1979 Vanguard 12” by the Players Association, Kaye's version injecting further verve into the original with a new bassline, percussion, strings and arrangement. Personally requested by NYC stalwart Danny Krivit when Greg Wilson dropped it during his recent gig at The Date in London, 'Music Up' is a surefire festival favourite, for house and disco heads alike, that’s set to fly this summer.